Job Termination Due To Religion

It is illegal to terminate an employee due to religion. Many of the job termination cases due to religion have involved:

Employers who do not want to allow employees to take off on Sabbath, usually Sunday but Saturday
in Judaism

Supervisors or groups of co-workers who do not respect members of a certain religion and
decide to fire them due to their religion

Taunting and unkind remarks due to religion sometimes due to an actual animus towards the
religious group that leads to job terminations due to religion

We have handled a number of religious discrimination cases in which our clients have sued for job terminations based upon religion, but also religious harassment. These cases often include nasty comments about a religion, or their religious practices.

Examples of religious harassment and discrimination in employment include:

Making fun of a South Bay Hindu because he worshipped a monkey

Making insensitive comments about a religion, their members, of its practices

A Woodland Hills law firm sending out a Christmas party invitation that said, “Jews Optional”

Telling a Camarillo reborn Christian she should, “Go pray about it” in an insulting way

Forcing Los Angeles workers to pray

Retaliating against South Los Angeles workers for refusing to join bible study classes at work, or outside
of work

Making absurd and offensive remarks about what a Muslim must do because of their religion

Saying a certain religions do not qualify as a religion

Making the work environment intolerable for an atheist

Telling employees they are inferior because of their association with a certain religion, or lack
of association with a certain religion

Under California law, prohibited religious discrimination is to be interpreted broadly. The terms used to describe the prohibited employment practices include, “Religious creed,” and making discrimination based upon religious observance illegal. All aspects of religion are supposed to be covered. Specifically, religious grooming and dress is protected under California workplace discrimination laws. Religious clothing includes head and face coverings, and jewelry. Accordingly, there are many cases in which Muslim women have successfully sued their employers because they were asked to remove head coverings. In terms of religious grooming, an Orthodox Jewish man should not be asked to shave their Payots.
An experienced job termination lawyer can guide you through the process of suing if your job was terminated due to religion. The Fair Employment and Housing Act generally applies to all California job termination cases. However, if a religions association or nonprofit religious corporation terminated you due to religion, it is necessary use Federal Title VII because the Fair Employment and Housing Act do not apply to religious associations or religious nonprofit corporations.

An experienced job termination lawyer can determine if you were working for a religious corporation or religious association exempt from state religious discrimination laws, but liable under Federal discrimination in employment laws. If our clients were employed by a corporation that might have a religious purpose, we pull documents from the California Secretary of State to determine if the corporation’s purpose is religious. For example, many hospitals are either owned by a religious group, or exist to serve religious missions. Hospitals or schools organized for a charitable religious purpose are liable for religious discrimination under Federal Title VII, but not California discrimination laws.
If you were terminated from your job, discriminated against, or harassed on the basis of your religion contact our experienced Los Angeles labor law firm at 1-310-842-8600.

$185,857 settlement in 2014 dollars for a Jewish lawyer discriminated against

$153,000 for a Camarillo woman demeaned due to her Christianity

$115,616 in 2014 dollars for a Signal Hill Hindu made fun of due to his religion

In Los Angeles County we have offices in downtown Los Angeles, Gardena, and Sherman Oaks. In order to serve the employees of the State of California we also maintain offices in Bakersfield, Oxnard, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Tustin. We only represent employees on a contingency which means we are only paid when and if we win the employment case. Contact us at: 1-310-842-8600 (toll free) or on one of our local area phone numbers at: 310-842-8600, 323-525-1600, or 818-783-7300.